Vechicle accident claims Basehor man’s life

Dripped candle wax, and sidewalk chalk messages from a candlelight vigil held for Stephen William Brock on Sunday night remain scrawled on the pavement in front of the Brock's home in Basehor.

The 21-year-old man died Friday morning in a car accident.

A 2003 Basehor-Linwood High School graduate, Stephen was remembered as funny and happy.

"He was an all around jokester," Jack Brock, Stephen's father said. "He touched a lot of people's lives."

More than 100 family members, friends and co-workers gathered Sunday night to comfort each other and share memories of Stephen. Shannon Brock, Stephen's younger sister, said Stephen was a car salesman at CarMax and lightened the mood for all of his co-workers. He had a different nickname for every day of the week and encouraged co-workers to imitate the Domino's Pizza "Two Times Tuesday" television commercial.

"He was very creative in his thought process," Shannon said. "He came up with and said the strangest things out of the blue. He was always pulling practical jokes on people."

The young man was also described as outgoing and active. He enjoyed bicycling and skateboarding in his younger years and was also into cars.

"He was just trying to find his way in life," Jack said.

The last couple of days have been rugged for the Brock family, but Jack said people have shown support, from bringing food over to house to driving the family all over town.

"The people in the neighborhood and the church have just been outstanding," Jack said. "We just moved to the neighborhood in November, but they have just opened their doors. We have tremendous friends."

Jack said he will miss doing father and son activities with Stephen and encourages young people to not take life for granted, spend time with the people they really love and share their lives with others.

"When you're young, you think you're going to live forever," he said. "You can tell somebody you love them whether you're time is coming up or not. He will be missed."

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Brock overcorrected after his vehicle left the roadway as he was exiting off of eastbound Interstate 70 onto southbound Interstate 635. He was ejected from the vehicle when it rolled several times. He was pronounced dead at the scene and had not been wearing a seat belt. Trooper Rob Beabout said there was one witness and there may have been another witness who left the scene. Anyone with information is asked to call the Kansas Highway Patrol at (913) 782-8100.

Brock is the third Basehor-Linwood graduate to be killed in a car accident in the past year. Erin Massing and David Raw, both 2005 graduates died within a week of each other in Sept. 2005.